UK Bank NatWest to Trial Gemalto’s Biometric Payment Card

“Participants in the pilot will need to register their biometrics at a physical bank branch, but NatWest says it’s exploring ways to enable remote biometric registration.”

A major UK bank is about to become the latest to trial biometric payment card technology from Gemalto: NatWest has announced that it will pilot the technology with 200 customers.

The cards feature a built-in fingerprint sensor designed to enable biometric authentication during contactless transactions. Participants in the pilot will need to register their biometrics at a physical bank branch, but NatWest says it’s exploring ways to enable remote biometric registration.

“This is the biggest development in card technology in recent years and we are excited to trial the service,” commented NatWest head of ‘Effortless Payments’ David Crawford in a statement announcing the trial.

The trial program’s announcement comes after Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo began piloting Gemalto’s biometric payment card in December. It’s another indication of the growing momentum behind biometric payment cards, which are poised to emerge as a major new trend in the payments industry, with Gemalto being a key player.

For its part, NatWest has shown interest in biometric security technology before, having embraced a behavioral biometrics solution for business customers in 2016.